A content delivery network or CDN (sometimes also referred to as a content distribution network) typically distributes content in a “best effort” fashion across the nodes throughout a network using technologies such as adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming. It is known, however, that ABR can result in unfair and sometimes incongruous apportionment of bandwidth in a network based upon the order multiple clients begin to use a network resource. Since the bandwidth usage is typically determined by a client requesting the content, and because the ABR clients can be opportunistic, they may become greedy. For instance, a client device that has a low resolution (e.g., a cellular phone) may end up consuming a disproportionate amount of the bandwidth when compared to the bandwidth required for a higher resolution device such as, e.g., a high-definition TV (HDTV). Issues pertaining to such misappropriation of bandwidth and/or uneven distribution of bandwidth resources in a CDN are expected to become even more pronounced when higher bandwidth options become available.
Relatedly, when clients access streaming content via a CDN, there may exist conditions at the content delivery nodes (i.e., serving nodes) of the CDN that result in fragmented content (e.g., incomplete copies of the content) locally stored at the content delivery nodes.